


In The Trenches

by adadshi



Series: Adashi Month 2019, 2020 [4]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Adashi Month 2020, Alternate Universe - Historical, Character Death, M/M, Soldiers, World War I
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:21:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25572769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adadshi/pseuds/adadshi
Summary: Private Takashi Shirogane and Private Adam W. spend a night together in the freezing cold trenches of the western front.(Adashi Month 2020 prompt: historical)
Relationships: Adam/Shiro (Voltron)
Series: Adashi Month 2019, 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1428493
Comments: 6
Kudos: 18





	In The Trenches

It was a cold December evening, the chilliest Shiro had experienced since he arrived in the trenches in France. He stepped over the legs of sleeping soldiers, not checking to see if the men’s chests still rose and fell. If the shells and gas didn’t get them, the biting cold did. Shiro shivered and continued on his way through the zig-zag trenches.

Earlier on in the day, he’d been ordered by his Commanding Officer to accompany Private Adam W. with sharpshooting. It was a two-man job: Shiro was to peer through a pair of binoculars, informing Private W. when the enemy foolishly stuck their head over the top of their trenches. There were many painful ways a man could die here- a quick bullet to the brain seemed like a mercy to Shiro. 

Shiro didn’t know Private W. very well. He was tall and sturdily build but he still looked a few years younger than Shiro (perhaps he was even too young to be enlisted). He fit in well with the other men: Shiro had seen him in a dug-out once, playing cards with a group of Frenchmen. When he won he wore a cheeky smile and kissed his winnings- a collection of pin-up postcards.

After tonight, they’d likely never see each other again. Shiro hated that about the war. He met so many interesting characters and found their corpses in a pile a few days later. Back home he used to have flings with other men- they spent one night together before parting ways. He swore that when the war ended he’d never do that again. He wanted to build lasting connections with people. He wanted companionship. He wanted love. 

Private W. was waiting with his gun in hand. He saw Shiro coming and waved. There was no one else around.

“Hi, Private. Nice to meet you.”

“You too. Shall we get set up?”

This part of the trench was ideal for sharpshooting. The outermost wall wasn’t perfectly excavated, it was uneven and there were parts of earth so solid it could be perched on. That was Private W.’s plan, it seemed. He sat down with his back to Shiro, loaded up his gun, and sat it on the top of the trench, behind the barbed wire. The bullets were fine enough to whizz through the metal and into the heads of unsuspecting enemies. 

Shiro wondered how many men they’d kill tonight.

He brought his binoculars out from his bag and set himself up in a similar way to Adam. He was a sickly child, he barely passed the athletic, height and weight requirements to sign up, but he had the eyes of an eagle. Even without binoculars, he could pick up small movements on the other end of No Man’s Land. 

It was a quiet night. Shiro spotted no curious heads peeking out from the enemy trenches. He only spoke to ask Private W. for the time.

“Get my watch out from my trouser pocket, I can’t take my finger off the trigger.” He said. Shiro put down his binoculars and looked at Private W.’s leg. He saw the lump of a watch in his deep pocket but he hesitated to reach for it. Private W. had very attractive legs. 

“Go on.” He pressed his leg against Shiro’s, “I have my eye on them, don’t worry.” 

Shiro reached into Private W.’s pocket and tried to ignore the lovely warmth of him. It had been so long since he’d been this close to another man. Only wool trousers and long johns separated him from Private W.’s skin. Gosh, it was so cold. He clasped his fingers around the cool watch and brought it out from the pocket.

“Goodness gracious- where did you find this beauty?” It was the finest watch he’d ever seen. It was made of silver with German text intricately carved into the outside. He opened it up to the watch face clock and inspected the tiny hands ticking away. It was almost midnight.

“I stole it from a German.” Private W. chuckled, “We took him prisoner and I swiped it when no one was looking. He invades half of Europe, I take his watch.”

Shiro snorts loudly and immediately covers his mouth with his hands. He hoped it wasn’t loud enough for an enemy to hear them. Had he just doomed himself and Private W.?

“Calm down, Private, no one’s out tonight.” Private W. lowered his gun and hopped down from his perch. Shiro followed his lead and packed his binoculars away. Usually, he would never even dream of abandoning his duties but there was something about this man that demanded his entire attention.

He had long, fluffy eyelashes and freckles on his cheeks. A prominent Adam’s apple that added to his boyish charm. 

“How old are you, Private?”

He squinted at him. “What’s got you asking?”

Shiro didn’t quite know how to reply. “You… I’m nineteen years old and you look so much stronger than me.” 

Private W. smiled that cheeky smile Shiro had seen before. “I’m seventeen but don’t go telling anyone. I’m old enough to fight no matter what they say.”

_Ah, I knew it!_ Shiro thought. 

“I was always good at playing soldiers as a child.” Private W. sat down on the ground. It was white from the frost and crunched underneath their feet. From his jacket pocket he pulled out a square thing wrapped in cloth- cheese, it was revealed to be. He tore off a chunk and handed it up to Shiro, who sat down with him to feast. 

“Playing soldiers and being one is a very different experience.” Shiro mumbled, “I preferred to play pirates as a child.”

“Oh, being a pirate would be such an adventure. Imagine standing up high in the crow’s nest with that beautiful blue ocean before you. We should have joined the navy.” Private W. spoke sideways, Shiro noticed. One side of his mouth stayed shut as he talked. He had lovely brown lips.

“It sure is cold out here.” He changed the subject and tried to tear his eyes away from those pretty lips.

“It is. Cold enough to kill, I reckon. Luckily for us- I keep a blanket on me.” From his kit, he produced a wool blanket. It was likely infested with lice but Shiro didn’t care. Everyone around here had lice- he’d much rather stay warm than worry about it. He huddled up close to Private W. and he draped the blanket over them. The December air was numbingly cold but Private W.’s thigh rested against his made him feel oh so warm inside.

They stayed up until the wee hours of the morning, talking about their lives and the war and the strange state of the world.

“Do you think they know about this war in faraway places?” Private W. asked, “Tasmania, for example.”

“I think they should. Tasmania is close to Australia, is it not? I met an Australian man at the Somme.”

“You fought at the Somme? What was it like?”

“Terrible, Private. Thousands of men died on the first day of battle. The stench of it haunts me.” Shiro felt himself start to tremble, “I was barely out of training before I was shipped out there and sent over the top. I’d never felt such fear in my life.”

He remembered hearing the whistle being blown at zero hour. They slowly clambered up to the vast expanse of No Man’s Land and started to walk towards their deaths. On either side of him, Shiro had two men he’d played soccer with back home. They were on the same team. He watched the bullets enter their chests, blood erupting from the holes, and how they fell down into the marshy craters to die. He couldn’t stop to cradle them. He couldn’t say goodbye.

“I was so scared, I didn’t even make it to the enemy trenches.” Shiro whispered, “I… I got down into a crater and started to bury myself. I buried myself as if I was already dead.” 

Private W. reached out and touched his cheek. His wool gloves felt scratchy against his skin. 

“I remember men falling on top of me. I couldn’t tell what side they were on. Their faces… if they weren’t blown off… they all looked so scared. I looked at them and thought, _What if I had met him in another place, in another time? Would we have been friends?_ This war is so terrible, Private.”

“What if _we_ met in another place, in another time?” Private W. asked. He slowly removed his cap and turned to look at Shiro. “How would it play out, Private?”

Shiro smiled. He liked to imagine scenarios like this. It was important to exercise one’s imagination. “We would be in Paris. I’d be there to see the Eiffel Tower.”

“And I would be there for… business purposes.”

“Business purposes? Very vague.”

“ _Mysterious_ , not vague. Who knows what kind of business I’m running.”

They talked some more, about Paris and drinks and fine cheese. Private W. told him about all the wonderful places in the world he wanted to visit someday: India, Rome, Australia, he named just about every country and city Shiro knew of. He even mentioned that he wouldn’t mind visiting Germany once the war was over, much to Shiro’s surprise. Then Private W. pulled out his pinup postcards and they admired them for some time. 

“I think I would have suit the sailor uniform much more than ours,” Shiro said as they turned to a postcard of a woman in the navy uniform. _I want you for the navy_ , she said. 

“Yes, you would look quite handsome.” Private W. agreed.

“You think so?” Shiro felt his cheeks redden.

“Yes, I do.” Private W. leant over and kissed his cheek. His lips were cold but his kiss made Shiro’s entire body heat up. He smiled dopily.

“Kiss me again please.” Private W. kissed him again and again, on his cheeks, his forehead, even the edge of his mouth. Shiro sat with his eyes shut and savoured the warmth of his friend’s affection. Oh, it felt so good to be kissed.

“Thank you, Private. I feel warmed up now.”

“Call me Adam.” He said. He got onto his knees and adjusted the blanket so it covered Shiro entirely. “Here, this will cover your front while I warm your back.” Shiro shifted so Adam could sit behind him. He fit perfectly between his warm legs. The only downside was that he couldn’t see Adam’s face. To compromise, he held his hands tightly.

“Thank you.” He yawned as he spoke. “We should get some sleep. We’ll need to be up bright and early tomorrow.”

“Yes,” He could hear Adam’s teeth chattering, “Hey, you didn’t tell me your name.”

“It’s Takashi. Takashi Shirogane.”

“What a lovely name. Goodnight, Takashi. Tomorrow we’ll say we shot many enemies and they’ll pair us up for more duties.” 

“You’re great company, Adam. Goodnight.” 

Shiro fell asleep feeling warm and cosy. It was the best time he’d had in the trenches for a long time. He hoped he and Adam would have many more nights together. They had so much to talk about and learn about each other. He dreamt of travelling to all those wonderful faraway places with him. India, Australia, Rome, Paris. In his dreams he saw Adam standing in front of the Eiffel Tower, wearing a big hat and scarf as fluffy snow fell from above.

When Shiro woke up, he felt snow on his nose. The sky was white. Adam’s watch was sitting open on his lap: it was almost five o’clock. Looking down their part of the trench, he could see no one else, bar a big brown rat. It was the size of a small cat and no doubt looking for the bodies of men who hadn’t made it through the night. Brown rats were merciless when they found a corpse to be feasted on. Shiro shivered at memories of finding dead soldiers with rats living in their chests. He squeezed Adam’s hands and tried to rid the horrid images from his mind.

“Adam.” He shook his hands gently. “You need to wake up now. It’s morning.” Adam’s hands were so cold, as cold as his silver watch was last night. His fingers were dark blue. Shiro felt his heart skip a beat. His stomach dropped.

He untangled himself from the blanket and turned to look at Adam. His eyelashes were frozen together and his lips were blue, almost purple. Frostbite. Those were the same warm lips that kissed Shiro only a few hours ago. He leant forward and kissed his forehead. His hardened skin was grey.

“Oh, Adam.” He whispered, his lips still pressed to Adam’s skin. Only seventeen years old. Shiro sat back, took his cap and fitted it onto his head, “There you are, Private. You look ever so smart.” Finally, he draped the blanket over his legs. They were still bent with his knees up and feet flat against the duckboards that covered the bottom of the trench. There was that space between his legs were Shiro had slept, blissfully unaware of what was happening outside of his dreams. Adam’s embrace saved him.

Shiro had his eye on the brown rat at the end of the trench. He felt a lump form in his throat. Oh, Adam. He wiped his eyes, collected his binoculars and Adam’s abandoned gun, and walked back to the support line. He had to make sure Adam’s family were notified of his death. He shot the brown rat as he passed it and looked back at the fallen soldier. 

He’d never wished so badly to be living another life. He wished he was in Paris with Adam, who was visiting under the pretence of a mysterious business trip, and they could admire the Eiffel Tower together. 

But there was no use in wishing. Before he could reach the support line, he was caught off guard by his Commanding Officer blowing the whistle. Over the top he went, clutching Adam’s gun in his hands, eyes still welling with tears. He thought to himself, _Will I die now? Is this it?_ There was no time to think about it- war waited for no one. All he could do was power on as he had done so many times before and pray that, if it was his time, there was an angel in uniform who smiled sideways waiting for him at the pearly gates of Heaven. 

**Author's Note:**

> twitter: @adadshi


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